A Series of Fortunate Events
by cocopops1995
Summary: (NAME CHANGED! Previously called "It Starts Here") When he wakes up his head is pounding and his whole body hurts. What's worse is that he can't remember anything. Who is he? And who is this girl with the beautiful green eyes? (This is the summary of the first instalment!) (No longer a once-off! Now a series of shorts leading up to a separate continuous story [if I get reviews] )
1. It Starts Here Prt 1

**AN: I don't own any of DC's characters! Except for Rourke, she's mine! :)**

**My creative universe basically includes all DC universes, I take what I like from the different universes and mix it into a perfect one... So while Dick is Robin he's the YJ tv series Robin but when he gets to be Nightwing I see him more as the New 52 Nightwing... So yeah enjoy...**

**IT STARTS HERE…**

His head was pounding. His whole body hurt. He was sure he must have broken a rib, maybe five. He felt like he fell off a twelve story building. Then he opened his eyes… and forgot the pain as he looked into her forest-green eyes for the first time.

"Hey there fluff." she said, with the sweetest smile.

"Hi." he said lamely, awestruck by her beauty.

She had brown hair that was pulled back into a French braid with a few stray curls popping up here and there she looked like she was well built, lean, but it had obviously been a while since she had eaten a proper meal, her cheeks were a little sunken, her eyes too. She was also very pale, as if she hadn't been out in the sun in a while.

"How's the head?" she asked

He groaned as he remembered the pounding in his head, which intensified at that moment, "Like someone's using it as a drum set for a heavy-metal band."

She giggled, "What's your name, fluff?"

He started to answer but then stopped. What was his name? He couldn't remember!

"You don't have to tell me your real name. I know you superhero types are protective over your secret identities. I even left your mask on…"

She watched as he reached up to touch the black mask on his face. Then it dawned on her.

"You don't remember, do you?"

He shook his head in despair, "I don't remember anything… What happened? How did I get here, with you?"

She saw the panic and fear threatening to overwhelm the forced calm in his sea-blue eyes.

He listened in silent awe as she recounted how he had literally landed in front in an alley the previous night, how she had defeated the group of 3 ninjas that had come down after him. She answered his sceptical look with a shrug, "I'm tougher than I look."

He tried to recall that night but nothing came to him.

In the end it was her story that brought back his memories because hers was so similar to his own. She told him everything about herself. Her parents had died at an early age and she had been adopted by a woman who had taught her how to fight but her 'grandfather' was a cruel man and she was soon forced to leave her adopted mother. After a lot of hitchhiking she somehow ended up in South Africa, where she was found by a family of ninja. The father made his living as a self-defence instructor, he took her in as one of his own and she felt more at home with her four new brothers than ever before.

"A month ago I went out for a walk one night. When I came back the house was on fire. I heard on the news that a gas leak caused the explosion… they didn't survive." She told with tears in her eyes and a wavering voice.

She had spent the last month living out her days in the basement of an abandoned house and her nights on the streets, taking on anyone who dared to bring pain and sorrow to others.

On the fifth morning he left her a note, promising to return.

It took a full week of convincing to get Bruce to go back for her but he finally gave into Dick's incessant nagging but things got busy and it took them a month to get back to South Africa. He found her in an alley. She thought it was ironic that he found her in the same alley where she found him. He was worried by her appearance, she had lost a lot of weight since the last time he had seen her.

"Hello, Rourke." he said

She smiled when she recognised him, "Hello, fluff. What took you so long?"

He half-smiled at her, "Oh you know, the life of a superhero and all, it can get pretty hectic."

"I can imagine," she said wryly, "I assume the man in black is a friend of yours."

"How did you know I was there?" Batman asked in his gruff voice that made most villains cry for their mommies.

She shrugged, "I was trained in the art of ninjitsu." she answered, offering no further explanation.

Robin was surprised that she had noticed Batman in the shadows but shrugged it off.

"Batman, meet Rourke Hunter. Rourke, meet Batman."

"Hi." Rourke said

Batman grunted

Robin smiled and then Batman did something that completely swept her off her feet. He offered to take her in, give her a home and a life. She was dumbstruck by the invitation.

Then the boy whom she had saved a month ago looked at her with those amazing sea-blue eyes that now held a promise of better things to come.

"You saved me, now let me save you." he pleaded

When she nodded his smile was so wide that she couldn't help smiling back.

He said: "Welcome to your life. It starts right here, right now, with me."

**AN: Alrighty then, I have come to the conclusion that the only way to get reviews is to bribe you guys with virtual food! So virtual cake (you can choose which flavour) to the first five people who review! Pleeeeeaaasee review! This is the first time I've published a fanfic and I'm planning on making a sequel, another short where you find out more about Rourke's origin... So pleaaaaasee let me know what you guys think, or you'll miss out on virtual sugary goodness!**

**-cocopops :)**


	2. It Starts Here Prt 2

**AN: ok so this one's much longer than I thought it would be but I had a lot of fun writing it so yeah.. Enjoy!**

"Where did you learn that?"

Rourke was lying on her back on the floor of the sparring area in the batcave, trying to get her breathing back to normal. Batman was bat-glaring at her. She had lasted almost three minutes against him during their sparring match, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that she had used a move used only taught by the League of Shadows to avoid his attack ten seconds ago.

She pushed herself up on her elbows and met his glare, "Where did I learn what?" she asked him, but he could see that she knew exactly what he was talking about, "I told you I've been trained in ninjitsu."

Batman grabbed her arm and pulled her up off the ground and held her in front of him.

"Don't insult us both by playing dumb." He growled at her, "You've received League of Shadows training."

Her shoulders slumped and she looked down. Batman knew better than anyone that appearances could be deceiving, but even he had not thought that this frail looking girl could be a trained assassin. She had been staying in the batcave for the past two days, Alfred and Robin had been protesting agaist it for the same amount of time, but there had been something about her that seemed a little off. As if she was hiding something and now he knew what.

"If you expect me to trust me you're going to have to be more open about where you come from. Especially with League of Shadows training" he growled.

She met his gaze and he saw something in her eyes that he did not expect: shame.

He let go of her arm and led her to the table they usually used for strategic planning and motioned for her to take a seat before taking the seat opposite her.

She took a deep breath before starting, obviously looking for a place to start.

"My name, as you know, is Rourke Elizabeth Hunter and I'm 13. I don't know where I was born, only that when I was five I was taken in by the League of Shadows to be trained as an assassin." Rourke started

"Taken in?" Batman asked

She shrugged, "I was told that my parents were dead and that I belonged to the League. I guess I did well because Lady Talia took me under her tutelage within my first year there. I excelled under her and by the time I was ten I was ranked among the top trainees… but I failed my final exam. I – I couldn't bring myself to kill…"

Batman nodded, understanding because of his own experience in training with the League, "So you were exiled."

She snorted, "If only it were that simple… I wasn't just someone who had joined the League because I was tired of society, no I belonged to the league, and there is no room for failure for those belonging to the League. Ra's al Ghul sentenced me to death. Someone else killed my target. They made me watch. Then I was put in the dungeon to await my death the following morning. Lady Talia came to see me in the middle of the night. She made it clear that she was very disappointed in me but she also said that putting one of the League's most talented assassins to death would be a disgrace that she could not bear so she helped me escape. She took me to the edge of her father's land and explained to me that by escaping I would be making myself an enemy of the house of Ghul and that I could never return. She gave me a bag with supplies and told me to find her beloved, that he would take care of me and complete my training but won't force me to kill. You're him, aren't you?"

Batman's exterior did not acknowledge her question but his mind was reeling. He had spoken to both Talia and Ra's more than once and been their home more than once in the past thirteen years but had never heard of the League training children from such a young age, even when he had trained with the League he had not heard of such a thing, and Talia had never mentioned Rourke though she had more than enough opportunity to do so.

Rourke nodded almost to herself, "I've noticed that you use League of Shadows moves in your fighting style as well as some ninjitsu and other styles that I don't recognize and you don't kill. Which means you must be him."

Batman nodded, "I am, but if Talia told you to come find me then you must've known that already"

Rourke shook her head, "Lady Talia only told me to find her beloved. She didn't give me a name, address or even a country in which to look for you. So I made my way to the nearest harbour and jumped on the first ship moving out of the country. That's how I ended up in South Africa.

"Master Shin found me a month later in an alley searching for scraps. I could normally steal some food but I had picked up a cold or something and gotten very little sleep so I knew that if I tried to steal that night I'd get caught for sure. Master Shin took pity on me and brought me to his home. He had four sons that he adopted when they were still young; he found them on the streets too. They made me feel at home and quickly adopted me into their little family. As I have mentioned, Master Shin was a self-defence instructor but he came from an ancient line of ninja and was trained in the art of ninjitsu. He was already training his sons in the art and they trained me too. I'm a quick learner so I picked up on it easily enough since it is similar to what I was taught with the League but there's something about ninjitsu that… I don't know I just feel more comfortable in it. Like what the League taught me is like a jacket that fits but it's just a little too big but ninjitsu fits just right, you know? Anyway I stayed with them for two and a half years and I was happy there, happier than I ever was with the League because I finally had a family that actually loved me. Though know that Talia cared for me in a way, it wasn't the kind of love you get from a family."

Batman nodded, once again understanding what she meant

"Then six months ago a ninja clan made themselves known to Master Shin. Their leader's ancestors were rivals of Master Shin's. Master Shin made it clear that he did not wish for the rivalry to continue but the other man, he called himself Shifu, you know like in _Kung Fu Panda_"

Batman stared at her blankly as Robin's signature chuckle suddenly came from above them. Rourke glanced up to see him seated on a ledge jutting out of the cave wall a few metres above them. Batman didn't bother because he had noticed Robin long ago but he made a mental note to himself to commend Robin on his constantly improving stealth skills because he wasn't entirely sure how long Robin had been there.

"Don't worry, Rourke," Robin said as he came down to join them officially. He was wearing his civilian clothes with his sunglasses, "I get it."

Rourke smiled for a few seconds but then her face scrunched up in curiosity, "How long were you up there?"

Robin grinned, "Since you failed you final exam."

This surprised Batman, he definitely needed to tell Robin how good he was getting…

"Oh." Rourke's face fell and she looked down at her hands.

Batman read from her body language that she had hoped Robin wouldn't find out about her past but why… then he remembered the look of shame in her eyes when he had caught her out for being trained by the League. She obviously wasn't proud of the time she spent there

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop." Robin was quick to apologise, "I just didn't want to interrupt you two… but I couldn't help laughing at Batman's face when you mentioned _Kung Fu Panda. _Priceless."

Robin's grin was back and Rourke's smile soon returned too. Batman saw her relax as Robin took the seat next to her. He decided to get them back to business.

"So I assume this man calling himself Shifu wasn't ready to let the ancient rivalry go."

Rourke's smile slipped of her face and Robin instantly became more serious too.

"No." Rourke replied bitterly, "He said it would bring dishonour on his family's name if he were to give in to a weakling such as Master Shin. Master Shin later explained to us that the rivalry was part of the reason why he moved away from Japan.

"Then a few months later I woke up in the middle of the night from a bad dream so I snuck out to go for a walk to clear my mind. When I got back the house was on fire. I looked and looked for Master Shin and the boys but I couldn't find them anywhere and the flames coming from the house was too hot for me to get in to look for them. The fire department arrived soon afterwards and I ran away. I was scared that if I stayed I would see their charred remains being carried from the house. The next day the news confirmed my fears. Five bodies were…" Rourke choked, unable to carry on as tears suddenly started flowing down her cheeks and she suddenly looked like the thirteen-year-old she actually was.

Robin moved his chair closer to hers and pulled her into a hug and Batman was suddenly reminded of how he used to hold Robin- no, Dick- when the boy was lost to memories of the night his parents were murdered. He also understood the reason for Rourke's tears. When she left the Shadows she didn't really loose family but in two short years Master Shin and his boys had given her a family, something Rourke had never had before, and loosing something so wonderful so quickly was probably as painful as losing both your parents. Bruce and Dick understood what she was feeling.

Rourke took two moments to compose herself before carrying on, "The news said that it was a gas leak but Master Shin was very careful with the gas and taught us all to be just as careful, and I would have smelt a gas leak strong enough to cause that kind of a blaze. So I went back on my own a few days later and made an investigation of my own. Normal people, that is people who weren't raised in the League of Shadows, would easily have missed the evidence but it was obvious that the explosion was no accident but I couldn't take the evidence to the police, according to them I didn't exist because Master Shin never officially adopted me, and they wouldn't view it as evidence in any case."

"So you couldn't do anything about it." Robin said

Rourke nodded sadly, "I suspect it was Shifu, he may have been concerned about his family's honour but the boys and I saw him do so many dishonourable things in the few months leading up to the fire that I wouldn't put him past it but I could never prove it. I was trained as an assassin, not a detective."

Batman and Robin nodded in understanding.

"A few months later Robin found me or, actually, I found him and the rest you know."

"And would you believe that we were in S.A. investigating a certain budding crime boss named Shifu?" Robin said teasingly

Rourke's widened a little, "Seriously? Oh wait it's kind of obvious isn't it? Why else would a bunch of Shifu's fake ninjas be throwing you off a roof?"

"Fake ninjas?" Robin asked

"The ninja of old may have been assassins and thieves but they were not without honour. Shifu's bunch of fakes don't know the definition of honour." Rourke replied bitterly

Batman nodded again.

"So have I earned your trust or do you intend on keeping me in this cave for the rest of my life?" Rourke asked Batman pointedly

Robin was giving him this look that was a mixture between a puppy dog look and the bat-glare, a surprisingly effective mixture, but unnecessary; Batman had already made up his mind.

He pulled his cowl off and let it hang behind his neck revealing Bruce Wayne. Robin sighed and said, "Finally!" as he took his sunglasses off revealing Dick Grayson.

"My name is Bruce Wayne." Bruce introduced himself

"And I'm Richard John Grayson, but everyone calls me Dick." Dick said, "And I'm 16. It's nice to officially meet you, Rourke Elizabeth Hunter."

"It's nice to officially meet you guys too." Rourke said with a big smile on her face

"Dick, why don't you take Rourke upstairs and give her the tour? I'll tell Alfred to make sure her room's ready for her.

Dick nodded enthusiastically, "Sure Bruce! Come on Rourke, and try to stay whelmed."

"Whelmed?" Rourke asked as Dick towed her away

Bruce smiled as he followed them up after changing into his civilian clothes, Dick had mentioned wanting a little sister. He made another mental note to himself to tell Rourke later that during their investigation he and Robin had turned up a lot of evidence against Shifu which they had turned in to the police. Evidence which included the plans to burn down Master Shin's home.

**AN: and there you have it, Rourke's depressing history right there... So I still haven't gotten any reviews... Which means no virtual cake, though the offer still stands! Please let me know what u guys think! I'm seriously not gonna carry on with this if no one reviews because I'm not writing this for no one so if you want more please please please pleeeeaaaaasssseeee review! Thanx. Oh! and a special shout out will go to anyone besides fruity loops who can guess who Master Shin and his boys are loosely based on!**

**ps: I know there's a mistake in here somewhere but I can't find it so please point it out to me so I can fix it... Thanks**

**-Coco**


	3. Frozen Prt 1

**Frozen**

_**(Madonna)**_

**Background:**** This takes part a year after "It Starts Here". Rourke has settled in to the Bat-family and she has taken up the hero identity "Hummingbird" (lame I know but it's better than the Purple Butterfly, which I was considering). Dick and Rourke have feelings for each other but neither will admit it even though everyone else can see it clear as daylight (kind of like Artemis and Wally in YJ but without the constant bickering). Rourke has joined the YJ team and Dick's just happy that he isn't the "baby" of the team anymore but he is VERY protective over his little sister! Rourke is 14 and Dick 17, this takes place about a month or so before Dick and Bruce have their big fallout.**

**This story takes place one night in Gotham. Mr Freeze is after a large diamond for one of his freeze rays. Only 3 of these diamonds can be found in Gotham in one of 3 different locations, each of which is being staked out by Batman, Robin and Hummingbird. **

**AN: I'm rating this instalment T just for in case.**

"Report" Batman growled over the communicator in Robin's ear.

Robin could tell that Batman's patience was wearing thin. He had ordered Robin and Hummingbird to report the goings on around each of their locations every half hour but they had been on this stakeout for close to four hours. Robin had stopped bothering to check how much time had passed between reports after the first hour, relying on Humming bird to remind him when it was time to report. Unfortunately she seemed to have stopped caring an hour after he did and Batman sounded angrier every time he had to remind them to report. The night was cold and dark with snow coming down all around them. Robin was immensely grateful for the thermal suit he had on that kept the cold out and the heat in as he shifted in his spot on the rooftop opposite the jeweller's store that he was staking out.

"Nothing, Batman." Hummingbird mumbled; voice laced with boredom, "Should have brought my homework with."

Robin smiled; even a trained assassin gets bored on stakeouts. She had been tasked with staking out an office building close the Wayne Enterprises that kept their diamond in a display case made of 3 inch thick bulletproof glass during the day and in a heavily guarded vault surrounded by heavy security during the night. Heavy on the heavy.

"How about this," Robin started talking to Batman, "If something does happen then we'll let you know."

He could practically feel the bat-glare coming over the communicator as Batman growled his reply, "You know that's not how this works, Robin. You check in every half hour, no exceptions, and I shouldn't be reminding you to do so."

Robin rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

"Robin -" Batman started to growl but cut himself off, "I have movement."

Robin immediately sat up straighter, getting ready to start moving to aide Batman when he heard tires screeching on the road below him. He looked down to see a bunch of goons jumping out of a van decorated with snowflake patterns.

"Me too." He told Batman, "I count five goons that just climbed out of a snowflake van. How many do you have?"

"Five." Batman answered

"Well I've got five goons and a certain Mr Freeze walking through the front door here." Hummingbird said

"Damn it." Robin swore as he got ready to take care of the goons at his location, knowing it was only a distraction.

"Robin," Batman growled, "Take care of your location and get to Hummingbird's as fast as you can, you're the closest. I'll join you as soon as I can. Hummingbird, do _not _take Freeze on by yourself. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Batman, but what if he gets the diamond before any of you get here? Something about this doesn't feel right."

"Do not engage." Batman replied, "If he gets the diamond follow him but do not engage him until both Robin and I are there."

Robin rolled his eyes again as he shot out a line to the next building.

"Gotta say guys," he said as he took out the goon closest to the shadows he had landed in and quickly moved to another spot, "You guys aren't so good at this whole inconspicuous thing."

He grabbed another guy and quickly squeezed the nerve on his neck to knock him out before moving again. The remaining three guys were starting to look nervous.

"I mean seriously? Snowflakes on a van pulling up to a place where Freeze can get the diamond that he's looking for?" he chuckled his signature chuckle as he shot a tranquilizing dart at the goon in the middle, the man dropped instantly causing one of the goons to cry out in shock. The other one kept quiet though, he didn't seem too worried about what was going on.

"Talk about being whelmingly obvious." Robin said as he landed on the guy who had cried out and knocked him out with an elbow to the temple.

The last goon chuckled softly as Robin turned to face him

"Laughing at your own stupidity?" Robin asked as he got ready to take the goon out

"No, at yours." The goon replied, "Did you honestly think Mr Freeze would send us out to get the diamond without him?"

"No duh, we know that Freeze is at Diamond Insurance's headquarters." Robin answered

The man chuckled, "And since the Bat is at the museum that means that the only one protecting Diamond Insurance is the littlest bird."

The man chuckled again. An inexplicable feeling suddenly settled in Robin's gut; something wasn't right.

"What makes you think the Batman is at the Museum?" Robin asked, not letting his features show his growing worry

"What, do you think you bats are the only ones who communicate during operations?" the man asked and started laughing again.

His laughing was seriously starting to annoy Robin so he quickly knocked the man out and then turned on his communicator

"Hummingbird, come in." he said as he started tying the men up for the police to find them.

"Hummingbird?" he practically growled this time but still no response, "Damn it Hummingbird let me know if you're there!"

Still nothing. Robin cursed and tried Batman, "Batman?"

"Status." Was the reply he received.

Robin almost growled again but quickly composed himself before answering Batman, "My guys are tied up and taken care of," he said as he started inspecting the men for any communication devices

"Good now get to Hummingbird"

"Yeah but listen, the one guy knew that you're at the museum. He said that they were in communication with the others." Robin said as he found what he was looking for; a two-way radio shoved in the guy with the annoying laugh's pocket. He saw that it was turned on and quickly turned it off, "I just found a two-way on one of them."

"Makes sense," Batman said, "Freeze is one of the smarter villains. I'm headed toward Diamond Insurance now."

"Have you heard from Hummingbird? She's not answering me." Robin asked as he jumped onto his R-cycle that was hidden in the alley way next the building he had been staking out from earlier.

The ensuing silence served only to worsen the feeling in his gut as he sped out onto the road and in the direction of Diamond Insurance.

"Hummingbird answer me now!" Batman suddenly growled over the comm, switching to all the channels.

Robin accelerated, going way over the speed limit Batman had felt the need to impose on him after he got into a particularly bad accident a few years back.

"Robin," Batman growled but Robin could hear the strain and worry in his voice.

"I'll be there in a few minutes." I answered tersely

"Don't get yourself killed in the process, Robin, then you'll be of no use to her."

Robin rolled his eyes at Batman's subtle hint to tell to be careful on the road.

He made it to Diamond Insurance in three minutes, which had to be some kind of new record for him since he had been almost ten minutes away. He didn't see any snowflake vans, or any other vehicles for that matter. Only tire tracks in the snow leading away from the building. He cursed again as he charged into the building through the swinging doors, the sick feeling in his gut twisting almost painfully, hoping and praying that Hummingbird was lying unconscious somewhere in the building.

By the time Batman arrived he was hacked into the company's security cameras, looking for any sign of her that he may have missed. Nothing. He let out a string of words as colourful as the rainbow.

"Language." Batman said

"I don't give a damn about my language!" Robin snapped, "She's not here! I found her communicator crushed next to the vault. He took her!"

"Calm down!" Batman said, "There are tracks outside and there's a tracer hidden in her boot. We'll find her."

Robin took a deep breath and nodded, not at all surprised to hear about the tracer. He suddenly felt the urge to apologise about every fight he had started because of a tracer he had found hidden in his suit.

"Send the R-cycle home; you're coming in the Batmobile with me."

Robin nodded and pressed a button on his belt, activating the bike's auto pilot system before jumping into the Batmobile. Normally Robin would have protested about being ordered around as if he was a child, but right now he was more worried about Rourke. She may have spent 5 years of her life being trained by the League of Shadows but she was still only a fourteen-year-old girl and although she carried a tough, fearless exterior she was actually a kind and gentle person at heart. Something that the League of Shadows failed to smother.

Thirty excruciating minutes later they stopped at an old warehouse. What was it with bad guys and old warehouses? Robin wondered to himself, remembering all the times he had been kidnapped and taken to an old warehouse as both Robin and Dick Grayson to be beaten or tortured and held for a ransom. The feeling in his gut intensified significantly as these thoughts swam through his mind.

"This is a trap." Batman said as he examined the tire tracks that obviously lead straight into the warehouse.

"Obviously, but she's definitely in there." I said pointing out that the tracer was flashing right in front of us on the GPS map on the dashboard.

"I'll go in through the front and create a distraction." Batman said, "You come in from the front and get her out. If I'm not with you in five minutes, leave without me."

Robin snorted at the last part, "How many times have I actually left without you?"

Batman didn't answer.

Robin smirked as he shot out a line to take him to the warehouse's roof, "Exactly."

There were two guards on the roof but Robin took care of them quickly and quietly. He peered in through the skylight on the roof, trying to spot Hummingbird. What he saw was kind of disconcerting. Hanging in rows across the warehouse were dead cows, pigs and sheep. The warehouse was like a giant meat-locker. He soon spotted Hummingbird hanging from a hook meant for a dead animal by the rope binding her hands. She seemed unconscious but it looked like she was sopping wet. He watched as a goon carrying a bucket of water went up to her and threw the water after her. She jerked from the sudden assault but didn't lift her head. With a start he realised that she seemed to be shaking and she was a deathly pale. He looked around the warehouse again. He couldn't see Mr Freeze anywhere.

Batman busted through the front door right then and proceeded to create his distraction. Robin quickly opened the skylight and made his way down to Hummingbird using the warehouse's rafters. When he reached Hummingbird he nearly cried out in shock and anger. She was hanging limp yet shaking so badly. Her lips were blue and the rest of her skin was starting to take on a blue tint too. He quickly cut through the ropes holding her on the hook. She was obviously hypothermic, but he couldn't understand how it had gotten so bad so quickly since she was wearing a thermal suit. He pulled off his glove and felt for a pulse. Her skin was icy to the touch and he nearly pulled his fingers away again but he quickly found her pulse. It was weak but steady. Her skin was also still wet from the water that had been thrown on her. He quickly moved his fingers to her suit and pinched a piece of it between his thumb and forefinger. Water leaked out and he suddenly understood. They had been dousing her with ice cold water and her suit was soaked through and through. The ice water along with the cold temperature in the warehouse had both worked to speed up the onset of hypothermia. He held her to him, willing some of his heat to enter her body. Batman was beside them in minutes.

Robin heard the Bat's sharp intake of breath

"Hypothermia," he said as he pulled his cape around them both, "Her suit's soaked through and I can't get any heat into her."

Batman nodded as he took her from Robin, "Get to the batmobile, now!"

Once they got to the batmobile Batman ordered Robin to strip as he started peeling Hummingbird's suit off her.

"What?" Robin asked, looking at Batman in bewilderment.

"You need to give her as much body heat as you can. Both your thermal suits will prevent the exchange of heat so strip and get in the car now!" Batman growled in a tone that most people would think he used only on criminals, but Robin knew the difference between an angry bat and a worried one.

Robin quickly stripped down to his underwear and threw his suit into the back of the batmobile before jumping into the front passenger seat. Batman quickly lowered Hummingbird, who was now also stripped down to her underwear, next to Robin on the seat. He hissed when her cold skin touched his warm skin but quickly wrapped his arms around her, once again willing his body heat to go into her. She was still shaking, which was a good sign at least. Batman reached into the back and brought out Robin's cape which he quickly threw over his two birds and tucked it in around them before jumping into the driver's seat and racing back to the batcave.

By the time they reached the cave Dick was shivering slightly but Rourke's shaking had calmed down to a steady trembling and he didn't think she looked quite as blue as she had before. Batman jumped out of the Batmobile and ran to Robin's side to lift Rourke out and take her to the medical area where Alfred was waiting with blankets, hot water bottles and other things to bring up Rourke's body heat. Dick followed anxiously, forgetting that he was still only in his. He stood in the doorway to the medical area and watched as Alfred wrapped Rourke up in blankets and placed hot water bottles around her. Alfred noticed Dick in the doorway and motioned for him to take a blanket he was not using.

"It wouldn't do any of us any good if you caught a cold now, Master Richard."

Dick gave a small smile as he pulled a blanket over his shoulders, "Is there anything I can do?" he asked, taking in Batman's still form as he watched over Rourke with a grim look on his face.

Alfred seemed to deliberate for a few seconds, "Actually Master Richard, you can go take a warm shower and -"

"You're not serious." Dick said looking at Alfred with an unreadable expression

"And wait for me in your bedroom." Alfred finished his sentence, "She will need you to keep her body heat up through the night."

Robin stared at Alfred in bewilderment for a minute and then blushed furiously as the butler's words sunk in.

Dick was just making sure that the heat in his room was up when Bruce walked in, still dressed as Batman, carrying Rourke and followed by Alfred. Rourke was dressed in a thin set of winter's pajamas. Alfred looked over Dick's bare chest and long gym pants that served as his sleeping clothes and nodded as Bruce lay Rourke onto Dick's bed, which he had already opened up for them.

"Alright, Master Richard, in you get."

Dick nodded and climbed into the bed next to Rourke. Alfred pulled the covers over them as Dick pulled her close to him. She was only softly shivering now.

"Shouldn't she have woken up by now?" Dick murmured

"She woke up a few minutes ago," Alfred responded, still tucking them in, "She'll be alright by morning."

Dick let out a sigh of relief and tightened his hold on Rourke and pressed a small kiss into her hair.

"Master Bruce," he heard Alfred say quietly, "She will be alright. If you feel the need to go after the madman responsible for this and teach him why it is unwise to hurt one of yours, you are more than welcome to."

Dick couldn't help but chuckle. An overprotective Bruce was downright annoying but an overprotective Alfred could get amusing.

Dick heard Bruce sigh, "He'll be long gone by now, but I need to make sure the Commissioner understands what's happening."

Bruce moved closer to Dick's bed and stroked Rourke's still damp hair before reaching over to brush Dick's hair out of his face.

"I'll be back soon." He murmured.

Dick nodded slightly and closed his eyes as his lights were switched off.

**AN: Wow this is coming out longer than I expected it to so I think I'll stop here for now! I must note that I don't know much about the treatment of hypothermia but getting the temperature up is obviously important though I'm pretty sure that the patient does not need to be kept warm by another person through the night but that was necessary for the fluff that is coming in the next part of this story. So I know my "Author's Note" said that this would come up in a few weeks but hey then the inspiration hit me! Hope you all enjoyed it. Please review… 3 virtual cakes are still waiting to be claimed!**


	4. Frozen Prt 2

**AN: So the rest of this is still rated T just for in case. Lots of fluff, quite romantic. The beginnings of a slash but nothing concrete yet.**

**Frozen Part 2**

When she woke up she felt… warm. Not unusual. So why did it feel so different? As if she hasn't been felt warmth in a long time? She tried to think but her head was still groggy with sleep so no plausible answer came to her. The next thing she became aware of was the arms holding her. She felt an arm draped over her middle and another one crossing over her chest. Her eyes snapped open as she started to panic in her head while she tried to keep her breathing calm. She calmed down when she took in her surroundings and saw that she was in Dick's room and recognised his arms around her. She let out a quiet breath of relief as she closed her eyes again. What was she doing in Dick's room and bed though? She couldn't remember having a nightmare, which was the occasional reason why she would wake up in Dick's arms in _her _room, when Bruce wasn't around to soothe her and help her go back to sleep. This was the first time she had ever woken up in _Dick's _room though. She'd gone to Bruce four or five in the past year when her nightmares wouldn't leave her alone, but never to Dick because she hadn't wanted to disturb him and because there was something about Bruce that just made her feel so safe. Not because Dick didn't make her feel safe, because when he came to her she slept soundly for the rest of the night, but there was a difference between "big brother safe" and "father safe". She had learnt that while living with Master Shin's family in South Africa. She felt a twinge in her heart as her thoughts turned to her lost family but she quickly turned them back to Bruce and her new family.

She smiled as she thought of how easily she had settled in with them. She had worried that Bruce and Dick wouldn't accept her after finding out about her League of Shadows training but Dick didn't care at all and although Bruce seemed cautious of her at first he quickly warmed up to her and Alfred was just Alfred. Ever so polite and always willing to lend a listening ear when it was needed and some sound advice. Her smile grew wider as she remembered the first time she had called him "Master Alfred". The old butler was so caught off guard that he had stared at her with a flabbergasted expression as Dick laughed his butt off and Bruce openly smirked at Alfred. From then on she had started calling Alfred "Master" all the time, much to his annoyance, but Rourke was sure that deep down Alfred actually enjoyed it since he never actually told her not to call him that with enough conviction.

She felt Dick shift in his sleep behind her and she was brought back to her original question: what was she doing in Dick's room? She had no memories of getting out of bed and coming to Dick. In fact the last thing she remembered was leaving the batcave the previous night. She suddenly became aware of the stiffness in her body, as if she had done a serious work out for three hours straight, and decided that she probably didn't want to remember what happened last night just yet, but she was in her pajamas and she couldn't feel any serious wounds, like a stab wound or broken ribs. That meant she must have got home last night, taken a shower and gone to bed, but that still didn't explain why she couldn't remember coming to Dick's room, or coming home at all for that matter. She felt a slight headache but it wasn't enough to indicate a concussion, besides she had a concussion bad enough to knock her out she would be down in the medical area of the batcave right now and not in Dick's bed.

She took a deep breath and focused on the latest memories; leaving the batcave. She remembered the stakeout, how boring it was. Freeze pulling up and walking in the front door, being ordered to stay back, do not engage. So she snuck in to the building, to get a closer look at what he was doing, good thing too, otherwise that poor security guard she managed to shove out of the way of Freeze's freeze gun just in time would have been a popsicle. She remembered being surprised that she hadn't been turned into a popsicle. She remembered seeing a look on Freeze's face which she did not like and then something hit her from behind and everything went dark. After that her memory became fuzzy, she remembered random flashes. The one thing she remembered with absolute clarity though was the cold. She remembered feeling so cold and shaking so badly that it hurt as she was hung on something by whatever was binding her hands. She remembered not being able to think straight and happily slipping into unconsciousness when it came from her. After that a few more random flashes. Dick's voice, Bruce's voice, warmth that she was sure she imagined, Alfred's voice saying something about Dick and warm, the feeling of strong arms pulling her closer to a warm body and then waking up in Dick's bed.

She shuddered as the memories of the cold assaulted her mind pressed herself deeper into Dick's chest. He immediately tightened his grip on her and she gasped softly, she had thought that he was still asleep.

"Rourke?" he asked, voice still thick with sleep

"Hmmm?" Rourke replied softly

"You cold?"

"Mmm mmm" she said, shaking her head, "Nice and cosy, thanks"

Dick let out a breath, "Good. How you feeling?" he sounded more awake now

"Stiff, kinda tired still, uh my memory's kinda fuzzy but I remember most of what happened. Though I'm still sort of unclear on how I got here."

"Bruce and I found you and got you back. Alfred started warming you up and told me to sleep with you to keep your temperature up."

"Oh." Rourke said before wriggling around until she faced Dick but remained in his arms. He pulled back a little when she did so to examine her face. He let out a breath in relief when he saw that although she was still a little pale some of the colour had returned to her face and her lips were definitely not blue anymore.

"What?" she asked him

"You're not blue anymore."

"I was blue?" she asked incredulously

Dick swallowed as he nodded, "You were so cold, if not for the fact that I could see that you were breathing and feel your pulse I would have thought… You looked…" he trailed off, unable to finish.

Rourke buried her head in his chest, "I'm sorry." She mumbled

"Why?"

"I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, someone snuck up on me from behind. Ugh I was so stupid!" she would have hit her head with her hand if they weren't pressed onto Dick's chest.

"Shhh. We'll talk about that later with Bruce, for now I'm just so glad that you're okay. Rourke if something happened to you, I don't know what I'd do…"

Rourke felt a spark in her stomach but quickly snuffed it out. _He means as his _sister _don't get any weird ideas. _Rourke chastised herself as she idly wondered if it was wrong to have a crush on your foster brother. She felt him plant a small kiss on top of her head and the spark sparked again.

"Rourke -" Dick cut himself off and took a deep breath

She pulled away from his chest to look up into his face. She saw something in his eyes, hidden behind the worry which also tried to hide the pain; she could see something else that she couldn't quite place. She wondered if he saw something similar in her eyes.

"I…"

She kept looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to say what he wanted to say, but instead of saying something again he slowly started closing the small space between their faces and the next thing she knew he was kissing her gently on the lips. She reacted on pure instinct. She kissed him back. She was confused though, this wasn't the usual brotherly kiss she usually received from him, this was something different. She was disappointed when he pulled away after only a few seconds.

"Sorry, I -" he started but she cut him off

"Don't," She said, "What… What did that..?" she was struggling to think in full sentences now.

"I don't know," Dick said as he removed one of his arms from around her to pull his hand through his hair, "I think we should just -"

"Take it a day at a time?" she asked

Dick nodded, "Yeah."

"Okay." She murmured as she pressed her face back into his chest just as a soft knock came on the door before Alfred entered the room

"Good afternoon Master Richard, Miss Rourke." Alfred said as he went over to Dick's window to pull the curtains apart and let the sunlight stream into the room

Rourke turned around and squinted at Alfred in the sunlight as Bruce entered the room

"Morning, Master Alfred." She said

This brought a smile to both Bruce and Alfred's faces and a small chuckle out of Dick. They knew that she was okay and would remain that way as long as she had her family to take care of her.

**AN: well ok, that ending definitely sucked. So yeah there you have how Dick and Rourke's relationship started growing into something more… Nightwing in the next instalment! So please tell me what you guys thought! The next time I update this (which won't be very soon since I still have to work it out because I only have a vague idea of what to do, so much thinking is still needed!). Thanks to everyone who reads! And since this came up a lot sooner than I was expecting it to I will only be moving this to the Batman comics section the next time I update which gives you guys plenty of time to get this notice! Please review!**

**-Coco :)**


	5. Author

**Author's Note:**

**First of all, thank you so much to my first two reviewers! Guest, you were my first reviewer and you really encouraged me to carry on with this! By the way, what kind of virtual cake do you want?**

**The next instalment should be up before the end of the month. Sorry that I'm such a lame reviewer but it takes me a while to find the perfect wording to be able to tell the story to the best of my ability! That and I seem to have a bit of a writer's block but I'm fighting it as best as I can!**

**This note is also serving the purpose of letting everyone know that I am going to be moving this story to the Batman Comics category the next time I update due to the fact that this story will soon include characters found more in the Batman area… aaand also because I hope to get more reviews there. So heads up to all of you! I hope you're reading this Guest!**

**Thanks again to my reviewers and readers! Sorry for making you all wait so long! I'll try to be back within the next week or two! **

**3 virtual cakes still up for grabs!**

**-Coco**


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